Starrett Law and Advisory

What Starrett Law and Advisory does

Starrett Law and Advisory is a private, founder-owned legal and advisory practice based in Saratoga, California, established in 2001 by Paul Starrett. The firm operates as a solo practitioner model with a stated headcount of 1, deliberately structured as a virtual advisory practice rather than a traditional law firm. It serves Fortune 500 enterprises, Fortune 100 clients, and AmLaw 50 law firms, and has been led by Paul Starrett across 45+ multimillion-dollar investigation and e-discovery matters. Core practice areas are organized into three pillars: AI Governance & Risk (governance frameworks, privacy program design, AI-risk and third-party/AI-vendor assessments, regulatory defense), Tax Treatment of AI (R&D tax credit substantiation and audit defense under federal and California First Solar standards, software and compute capitalization, transfer pricing, M&A structuring), and AI Disputes & Investigations (forensic reconstruction of AI systems, data, and outputs under legal or regulatory scrutiny). The unifying methodology is a proprietary "Technical AI Substantiation Framework" for interrogating actual model builds, training pipelines, and cloud/GPU infrastructure rather than relying on checklist-based documentation.

The firm makes money through professional services: advisory engagements, consultation memos, and dispute representation on quote-based pricing. There are no public rate cards, no productized offerings, and no disclosed revenue figures. Go-to-market is direct-engagement and referral-driven, with thought-leadership channels including the PrivacyLabs Compliance Technology Podcast, academic teaching at Santa Clara University School of Law and University of the Pacific's M.S. Data Science program, and industry leadership as founding chair of the ABA's Big Data Committee (2013–2020) and contributor to IAPP's AI Governance Certification. No external funding, no institutional investors, no subsidiaries, and no partnership alliances have been disclosed. Geographic footprint is the United States only, with California-specific regulatory expertise as a differentiator.

Name

Starrett Law and Advisory

Legal name

Starrett Law and Advisory

Website

https://starrettlaw.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Starrett Law and Advisory is a private, sole-practitioner legal and advisory firm in Saratoga, California, providing AI governance, tax treatment of AI systems, and AI dispute support to Fortune 500/100 enterprises and AmLaw 50 law firms since 2001.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Advisory Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Regulatory Readiness & Audit Automation (e.g., EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001) (HDAAAMAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Litigation & Dispute Valuation (damages, shareholder disputes) (FSAEAHAI), M&A Advisory (Buy-Side & Sell-Side) (BPAHAOAA)

Keywords

• AI governance advisory
• AI tax substantiation
• AI disputes investigations
• Privacy program design
• Cybersecurity legal advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Saratoga

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Advisory and Consulting Services: Advisory engagements providing technical-legal analysis on AI governance, tax treatment of AI systems, and dispute support. Services include governance frameworks, privacy program design, AI-risk assessments, R&D tax credit substantiation, and litigation/investigation support.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Starrett Law and Advisory is a boutique legal and advisory practice providing technical-legal analysis and representation for AI governance, tax treatment of AI systems (particularly R&D tax credit substantiation), and AI-related disputes and investigations. The firm establishes and defends what an AI system actually is and how it behaves under legal, regulatory, or financial scrutiny, serving Fortune 500 enterprises and AmLaw 50 law firms.

Product overview

Starrett Law and Advisory is a legal and advisory services firm offering three core practice areas: AI Governance & Risk, Tax Treatment of AI, and AI Disputes & Investigations. The practice was established in 2001 and specializes in providing technical foundation under high-stakes AI decisions for Fortune 500 clients. The three service pillars are unified by the discipline of establishing and defending what an AI system actually is and does under legal, regulatory, or financial scrutiny. The firm also produces the PrivacyLabs Compliance Technology Podcast as a content platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PrivacyLabs Compliance Technology Podcast: Conversations at the intersection of privacy, AI governance, tax, and compliance — for practitioners who have to make the technology and the law agree.

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• BNH.AI: BNH.AI is a boutique AI-focused law firm advising on AI governance, risk, and compliance, with similar technical-legal positioning to Starrett Law and Advisory. Directly comparable in targeting enterprise AI governance and regulatory counsel.
• Ice Miller LLP: Ice Miller has a dedicated AI and data analytics practice that advises on AI governance, privacy, and disputes. Comparable in serving enterprise clients with technical-legal AI expertise, though broader in overall service mix.
• KBKG: KBKG is a specialty firm focused on R&D tax credit substantiation, including technical documentation for software and AI development. Directly comparable to Starrett's Tax Treatment of AI pillar and California's First Solar substantiation work.
• Bressler Risk Law: Bressler Risk Law is a specialty firm focused on AI, data, privacy, and emerging technology risk. Comparable to Starrett in combining legal advisory with technical depth on AI and data systems for enterprise clients.

Broad incumbents

• Cooley LLP: Cooley is a major tech and AI-focused law firm with deep practices in AI governance, data privacy, and disputes. Comparable to Starrett in serving high-end tech clients with AI legal needs, though vastly broader in practice and scale.
• Gunderson Dettmer: Gunderson Dettmer is a leading law firm for technology, AI, and venture-backed companies, with strong AI governance and data privacy practices. Comparable as a tech-focused legal advisor serving enterprise AI matters, with broader scale than Starrett.
• Latham & Watkins: Latham & Watkins is a global BigLaw firm with leading AI governance, data privacy, and white-collar investigation practices. Comparable to Starrett's AI Disputes & Investigations pillar at materially greater scale and broader service mix.
• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati: Wilson Sonsini is a premier tech and life sciences law firm with significant AI, privacy, and governance capabilities. Comparable as a broad incumbent serving enterprise AI matters, including regulatory defense and disputes.

Emerging players

• Credo AI: Credo AI is an AI governance platform that helps enterprises audit, monitor, and document AI systems for regulatory compliance. Comparable as an emerging player in the AI governance space that Starrett's advisory services complement.
• Holistic AI: Holistic AI is an AI governance, risk, and compliance platform used by enterprises to operationalize AI oversight. Comparable to Starrett's AI Governance & Risk pillar as a complementary advisory/technology provider for AI risk management.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/starrett-law-and-advisory

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Starrett Law and Advisory